Contrary to reports suggesting that former presidential candidate Peter Obi travelled to Rome to seek President Bola Tinubu’s assistance in saving Fidelity Bank Plc from financial collapse, the Labour Party chieftain has dismissed the claims, insisting he never sought the president’s audience or met with him.
Obi clarified that his sole reason for travelling to Vatican City was to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new Catholic Pope, Leo XIV, not to solicit Tinubu’s intervention in a purported ₦225 billion debt crisis involving Fidelity Bank.
The former Anambra governor also set the record straight regarding allegations that he owns Fidelity Bank, stating that he does not, and clarifying that throughout his career, he has served as chairman or director of three banks and financial institutions, one of which was Fidelity Bank.
According to reports circulating nationwide, Obi allegedly met with top politicians, governors, traditional rulers, and others to seek help in resolving the bank’s financial troubles.
The report further claimed that the presidency declined to hold a private meeting with the former governor, insisting that any interaction with the president must take place in full public view.
However, in a statement issued via his social media handle on Thursday, Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election under the Labour Party, described the allegations as part of a blackmail campaign by hired agents paid to propagate falsehoods against him.
According to him, “It’s obvious that the biggest business for blackmailers now is talking about Peter Obi from every negative perspective.
“Even my solemn spiritual trip to Rome has been twisted into yet another blackmail campaign by merchants paid ostensibly to propagate anything negative against Obi. One such individual, whose entire life revolves around blackmail, falsely claimed that I went to Rome to have a private meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu regarding a purported ₦225 billion debt crisis involving Fidelity Bank.
“These claims are not only baseless, malicious, but entirely false. Let me categorically state that I have never sought an audience with, nor met, President Tinubu since he assumed office, except about 1 minute meeting at the arena of Saint Peter’s Basilica Rome during the inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV, where I was seated behind, and had to respectfully greet him, and other dignitaries present.
“I was previously in Rome on the 9th of May for the lying in state of Pope Francis. Immediately after the mass and exchanging pleasantries, I went straight from Vatican City to London, and then back to Nigeria.
“The self-proclaimed “blackmailer-in-chief” and others who thrive on spreading pain and falsehoods have also claimed that I own Fidelity Bank. For the record, I do not. Throughout my career, I have served as Chairman/Director of 3 banks/Financial institutions, of which Fidelity is one of them.
“Fidelity has over 500,000 shareholders, none of whom hold a majority stake. What this blackmailer seeks is to harm these hard-working Nigerians and cause them needless distress.
To those peddling these falsehoods, and engaging in blackmail, I offer a simple prayer: May God grant you the virtues of gratitude and understanding to know that we came here with nothing and will go with nothing, that they cannot profit from their evil ways,” he stated.
